Teaching Social Skills to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders using LEGO Club-Based Therapy

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability identified when a child is usually in preschool and can affect him or her his entire life. Having a child with autism can increase the financial burden of raising a child for a family as well as increase cost to a community. Children with ASD have a delay in their ability to understand social skills necessary to develop as they age. Failure to develop social skills early can impair and individual with ASD from developing relationships. An individual with ASD may have difficulty socializing with family, peers, and other complex relationships. Using evidence-based practice therapies to teach children with ASD social skills as been shown to be effective to lower costs for therapies to families and communities. Children learn naturally through play therefore play therapy is an effective means of teaching social skills for children with ASD. LEGO club-based therapy is an evidence-based therapy that has been shown to improve social skills in children with ASD. The scholarly project included 12 elementary-age children with ASD using LEGO club based therapy to teach social skills. The therapy was done over a 12-week period one time a week. Parents rated their children's progress using the Autism Symptom Rating Scale (ASRS) at the beginning and end of the project. The results of the scholarly project showed statically significant results using LEGO club-based therapy to teach social skills to children with ASD.